A self-proclaimed illusionist from Mississippi, who spent years working on line casino flooring underneath false names, together with the alias “Shaun Mistery,” will now spend the following decade behind bars.
On Tuesday (February 10), Choose Carl Petersen ordered 38-year-old Shaun Joseph Benward to serve concurrent jail phrases that add as much as 10 years. The Lyon County sentence comes with credit score for practically one yr he has already spent in custody whereas ready for the case to wrap up.
A jury discovered Benward responsible in November 2025 on a sequence of felony gaming prices tied to exercise at Grand Falls On line casino in Larchwood. Prosecutors stated the case centered on a calculated effort to take advantage of on line casino procedures for private acquire.
He manipulated on line casino employees to safe over $10,000 in improper payouts and prevented IRS reporting necessities by breaking apart over $12,000 in transactions, altering his outfit a number of instances, and utilizing completely different tellers to remain undetected. Benward has been arrested for related scams all through the nation.
Iowa Division of Public Security
In accordance to the Iowa Division of Public Security, jurors convicted him of “5 counts of Cash Laundering, 5 counts of Dishonest at Playing Video games, and one depend of Conspiracy to Commit a Felony.”
State investigators started digging into Benward’s actions after brokers noticed him dishonest on the Larchwood on line casino in December 2018. What they uncovered, officers stated, was a deliberate effort to outmaneuver each on line casino employees and federal reporting guidelines.
“He manipulated on line casino employees to safe over $10,000 in improper payouts and prevented IRS reporting necessities by breaking apart over $12,000 in transactions, altering his outfit a number of instances, and utilizing completely different tellers to remain undetected,” the division acknowledged in its press launch.
Mississippi self-proclaimed illusionist had historical past of on line casino bans and allegations
The Iowa conviction didn’t mark Benward’s first conflict with playing regulators. Information from different states paint an image of comparable conduct stretching again greater than a decade.
In October 2015, the Pennsylvania Gaming Management Board positioned him on its involuntary exclusion record after figuring out that he and one other particular person had carried out a dishonest scheme. That very same month, he pleaded responsible to disorderly conduct in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
Missouri regulators later compiled their very own findings. A 2019 decision from the Missouri Gaming Fee particulars incidents at a number of Kansas Metropolis-area casinos. Surveillance footage on the Isle of Capri On line casino Kansas Metropolis allegedly confirmed Benward altering his wager after the result of a sport was already recognized. In one other episode, investigators concluded he pulled a $500 chip off the desk whereas a cashier was distracted, then walked away with $2,750 in money regardless of presenting solely $2,250 in chips.
These incidents led to his removing from a number of properties, together with Lumière Place, Isle of Capri places, Harrah’s North Kansas Metropolis, and a number of other Boyd Gaming casinos. In the end, Missouri regulators completely barred him from all riverboat gaming services within the state.
After the 2018 incident in Iowa, Benward remained out of custody for a number of years. Authorities arrested him in Mississippi in April 2025 on excellent warrants tied to the Iowa case.
The Iowa Division of Public Security stated the investigation showcases the work of the Division of Legal Investigation’s Particular Enforcement Operations Bureau, calling it “the first legal investigative and enforcement company for the Iowa gaming trade.”
Featured picture: Iowa Division of Public Security
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